Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1887-02-05

Without discussing the merits or de-
merits. the Justice OF injustice o. the
terms Of the Interstate CoDE.erce ball,
says the Salt Lake Tnbune, IL may not
be sniss TO inquire why j. has Teen 30
universally felt that AOme ball 0
clearly defining the relations o. railroads
to the people, and more clearly express
ing the obligations which ought TO exist
between the railroads and the state,
ought to materializs into ; lsws Ii ex'
lists, We tniak, because the spirit which
originally governed railroads has all
passed away. At frSt il was universally
conceded that the extraordinary priv
Iezes granted to railroads could only be
made jassi6sble On the ground that. a.
common carriers, they must tres. the
whole people with exact fairness. and
there must be no Determinations, and
that the charges must De limited, ike
the interes. charged By > banker, 70
wha. would yield fair interest, after
paying expenses. upon, not millions Of
watered capital, but the real capital ex'
pended in building and equipping the
roads. How far that thought has drifted
from the minds Of the public, and esPe'
cially from the minds Of railroad men,
can be guessed when We read the words
Of Senator Stanford. Speaking OF rail-
road property, be says in effect: The
essence of ownership 10 control, and the
owners Of a railroad have the same night
to absolutely control their property that
the owners Of = factory or mercantile
establishment hare" He means tina;
the restraints which wise legislation has
thrown around common carriers ought
all TO be removed, and in substance says
"the only thing which a railroad !:
bound to respect Is competition.
Elaborated a little more his meaning ID
this: "When the law OF eminent domain
was invoked for me; when to me was
given the right to drive my iron tracks
through the farms aud gardens Of men;
when to me was given the virtual mo-
nopoly OF q mighty carrying trade;
when l was permitted 10 destroy or
drive away stage lines and freight lines,
and the business OF smiths, wagon
makers, hotel keepers, and scores Of
others; when | reduced the profits o!
all kinds of business along the route Of
my road one-half, and In many cases de-
stroyed il altogether; when. in short,
for a particular public use, / was per
mitted to establish a new form Of prop,
erty which trenched upon the propert,
of almost every other man along my
lines, the obligation was nowhere i'm
posed upon me to treat my patron
fairly, unless by doing so | would foi
myself secure the largest measure 0
profits. And for the Government to in
terpose now and say that. while it ha
no disposition to interfere in the leas
with the management Of my property, i
must still insist upon my confirming m.
operations within the laws prescribing
the limits beyond which common car
riers cannot go, is an attack upon my prop
erty rights and upon my liberty as
n,ks1an - That - tLn kbo,.hN nv th
line OF thought ON which all ~railroa'
properties have been managed OF lat
years. and the departing from the theor.
upon which the charters were granted
the abuse of power thus usurped and tn
injury wrought upon individuals am
towns which could not benefit by com
petition, are the causes which have lie,
SO many people to believe that railroad
were the enemies Of the people, and tina
if their power should be permitted to g
or increasing. with no check put upol
it, they would in q little while b.
stronger than the Government itself. /
is out Of this that the Interstate Com
merce bill has been drafted and driver
through both Houses Of Congress. Tn
chiefs Of the roads cry out against it
hardness and injustice. If the cry il
just, the cause, all the same, lies in tn,
wrongs which the roads have heapet
upon the people.